Modernization, expansion and globalization of organized crime: criminological situation in the Czech Republic

The issues of modernization, expansion and globalization of organized crime are studied taking into account the international experience, political and legal practices prevailing in the Czech Republic. Organized crime is considered as a threat to internal and external security and as a part of both politics and business. The author proves that organized crime is becoming closer to the official political institutions than to the criminality. Three political regimes of political power and organized crime coexistence are described, such as criminal-syndicalistic, mafia-controlled and cleptocracy-based. The foreign crime expansion is studied, its three varieties are proposed and described, notably expansion as the highest stage of crime modernization, forced expansion, expansion of criminals without criminal business expansion. Some reasons of the expansion of the organized crime from the CIS into the CzechRepublic are shown. The drawbacks of migration legislative control which creates an entry barrier for law-abiding citizens, but does not exclude the criminal leaders’ entry, are investigated. The necessity to establish coordinating agencies operating throughout the EUis proved. Some political incidents occurred during the extradition of foreign citizens suspected of crime affiliations are analyzed. The legislative institutions breeding corruption and creating conditions for criminal activity are considered by the example of commercial insurance and immigrants’ entry to the Czech Republic. The political actions leading to significant errors and allowing foreign organized criminal groups to join the Czech criminality are explored. Some conclusions regarding damaging the Czech Republic’s international reputation and disintegration tendencies generated by the criminality are madeKeywords: modernization, expansion, globalization of crime, organized crime, corruption, the Czech Republic, the European Union.